Undead Mage: I Have a Skeleton Clone

"What kind of venture?" This piqued Fang Zhou’s interest.

His original plan was also to try his luck in the Desolate Land to see if he could buy some land and set up a Spirit Medicine Forest.

With the funds he currently had, he could scrape enough together to buy a piece of land.

Yan Yan and Jing Fei exchanged a glance, and then continued, "It’s mining and metallurgy."

"Mining and metallurgy!?" Fang Zhou was a bit surprised.

"Is this something we can handle? It sounds quite expensive."

"Fang Zhou, it’s not as exaggerated as you might think.

This is a small metallurgical vein, a Black Iron Tier Beast Blood Stone mine. You know this material, right?" Yan Yan gestured for him to calm down.

"I know it." Fang Zhou nodded.

"To the southwest of Desolate Land, there’s a small Beast Blood Stone mine with low production.

But this stuff is very durable and is needed in some common arrays.

In the construction of the new city in the Desolate Land, demand will definitely exceed supply; as long as we can extract it, there will be no worry of selling it."

"Moreover, we can sign procurement contracts with the construction companies involved in building the new city in the Desolate Land. All the ores produced, along with other metallurgical materials, will be sold to them," Yan Yan continued.

"That indeed sounds good, but aren’t all mines officially operated? How could it be our turn?" Fang Zhou asked, puzzled.

"You’re right, under normal circumstances, the mines around the Desolate Land are officially mined.

But as you know, after the recent war, Beast Fighting City is short of personnel."

"The high-value mines and medium to large-sized mines are definitely officially mined.

Even if I had the opportunity, I wouldn’t dare to take over; each of them is a hot potato."

"But what I’m talking about is a small mine that produces low-tier Beast Blood Stones.

Besides, nothing much is extracted from it except in large quantities during city wall constructions."

"In the coming period, Beast Fighting City will release a large part of the small resource points around the Desolate Land, offering them externally.

Then contracts are signed to bring in many teams and freelancers to participate."

"The purpose is simple: to use these resources to accelerate the construction of the new city in the Desolate Land and to foster the development of this area.

Anyway, whoever starts operating these resources will have to pay taxes to the Beast Fighting City officials; they will never lose out."

"We got this news through our Adventurer Association channels."

Yan Yan said a bunch, then paused to take a sip of water.

"Sounds indeed promising, but since you have such good channels, why look for me?" Fang Zhou asked.

"To be honest, though we have channels to learn about these things, it’s practically semi-transparent news by now.

Recently, anyone with a bit of a news source already knows that the Desolate Land is opening up for major resource development."

"When the time comes, the entire Desolate Land will certainly be restless.

Both Jing Fei and I are Bronze Tier Professionals, and despite having an adventurer group and some networks as support, our strength is honestly insufficient in such a chaotic place."

"And I’m aware of your achievements in the Tiger Suppression Fortress and during the Beastman upheaval, hence we decided to invite you as a partner."

"This Beast Blood Stone mine may be small, but once developed, it can generate at least 400,000 Magic Stones in monthly benefits. It’s quite a lucrative deal."

At this point, Yan Yan smiled and continued, "Moreover, we have a funding gap.

Mining is different from setting up a Spirit Medicine Forest; it requires larger funding."

Upon hearing this, Fang Zhou slowly spoke, "The project does seem impressive, but as you know my situation, calling me penniless wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

If you want me to join, I could consider it.

But requiring me to invest may be a bit difficult."

Invest?

There’s no way I would invest in such a thing.

The waters in mining and metallurgy are too deep, and if Fang Zhou put all his assets in, it might only make a ripple.

"Uh, we can discuss the investment later; just think about it.

If you can join our management and security team, we’ll already be very happy," Yan Yan smiled.

"I have a question," Fang Zhou continued.

"Ask away, I’ll tell you everything."

"How reliable is your network channel?" Fang Zhou asked.

Yan Yan wasn’t surprised and said, "You’re right to ask.

I’ll be honest; my friend runs a construction company.

The path he showed us isn’t free.

He wants 40% of the mining profits, and after deducting that, the remaining profits are ours."

"40%?

If the mine becomes operational, with monthly exports of 400,000 Magic Stones, we’d only be left with 180,000?"

Fang Zhou said.

"That’s right!" Yan Yan nodded.

A monthly income of 180,000 Magic Stones is a huge deal for someone like Fang Zhou, a Silver Tier Professional.

Although it’s unclear how many people will ultimately get a share, the returns are not bad.

Even though the initial mining phase won’t yield 400,000 in returns,

it’s comparable to Fang Zhou’s previous effort in setting up the Forest Guard Array.

"So, how much would I get?" Fang Zhou, intrigued by the mining and metallurgy project, cut to the chase.

Yan Yan and Jing Fei looked at each other, a hint of delight flashed in their eyes.

Yan Yan paused and said, "Fang Zhou, we have two ideas.

First, you don’t invest, but join as a partner and provide comprehensive security services during mining.

In that case, we will give you a pure profit of 10%."

"Second, you also invest in the group.

In this case, your share would be based on your investment, plus the 10% profit for responsible security."

"10% is a bit too low!

Director Yan, you’ve seen my capabilities.

To be frank, I’ve grown stronger, with more Undead soldiers under my control."

In business negotiations, Fang Zhou naturally fought for every inch.

At this point, one cannot care about face; otherwise, the loss will be personal.

His Artificial Undead Legion is worth dozens of Silver Tier Combat Professionals, plus a few Silver Tier Casters.

But 10% is really too little.

"10% is not low, considering not all revenues from the mine are ours,

we have to pay 10% pure profit as tax to Beast Fighting City, and share dividends with other mining manpower providers like construction companies and adventurer groups.

What’s left for us isn’t much," Yan Yan explained with a bitter face.

Hearing this, Fang Zhou’s interest was piqued.

Paying tax to Beast Fighting City was understandable, but even for small veins, a significant upfront investment and human and material resources are needed to bring them into production.

It seemed Director Yan didn’t only value his strength but also recognized that he alone could rival any market security team.

Naturally, any profitable business, once steadily making money, would attract a lot of attention openly or secretly.

At this moment, even with Yan Yan and the Flame Medal Adventurer Group backed by the Adventurer Association, there might not be obvious confrontations.

But covert means might not favor the Adventurer Association.

Thus, a powerful and reliable backer, like himself, a Silver Middle Rank Undead Mage, could be just the solution.

Thinking of this, Fang Zhou felt his share was insufficient, so he proceeded to negotiate with Yan Yan.

"Director Yan, you know the dangers of the Desolate Land, no need for me to elaborate.

You can absolutely trust my strength; I currently have nearly a hundred Silver-level Undead under my command.

And hundreds of Bronze-level Undead.

This combat power can definitely ensure the mining site is well-protected.

Consider this: even if you wanted to hire such a number of Silver-level adventurers for protection, you wouldn’t find them in Beast Fighting City."